El trabajo informal en los Estados Unidos: informalización, inmigración y emprendimiento en el trabajo

• Chris Tilly ^[1]
  1. [1] University of California Los Angeles

     University of California Los Angeles

     Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: El trimestre económico, ISSN-e 2448-718X, ISSN 0041-3011, Vol. 91, Nº. 364, 2024, págs. 765-807
• Idioma: español
• DOI: 10.20430/ete.v91i364.2584
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • El trabajo informal —es decir, el trabajo que por lo demás es legal pero no está protegido por las leyes laborales estándar ni los programas de seguridad social que cubren el resto del trabajo— está muy extendido en los Estados Unidos, y la informalización —o sea, el desplazamiento del empleo hacia la informalidad— aún más. Estimaciones recientes de la participación en el trabajo “extraoficial” alcanzan a 36% de la población adulta, y dos tercios de una muestra de trabajadores con salarios bajos habían experimentado violaciones de la legislación laboral en la semana anterior. El empleo informal representa sobre todo a los migrantes trasnacionales. Las acciones de múltiples actores contribuyen a éste. Los empresarios estadunidenses participan en la informalización mediante la “fisuración” de los empleos, al dividirlos en estatutos menos protegidos. Los gobiernos nacionales, regionales y locales del país contribuyen a configurar el grado de informalización mediante la aplicación (o su falta) de la legislación laboral, las políticas sobre migración y otras acciones. Los grupos de trabajadores vulnerables recurren al empleo informal o al autoempleo como estrategia de supervivencia, mientras que los trabajadores más acomodados se autoemplean para ganar autonomía, flexibilidad o autorrealización. Las respuestas colectivas y organizativas de grupos de trabajadores, principalmente mediante organizaciones de la sociedad civil conocidas como “centros de trabajadores”, han ido en aumento. Este artículo ofrece una revisión exhaustiva y un debate conceptual de lo que sabemos sobre el trabajo informal en los Estados Unidos.

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